Botanical Soap Tutorial

Erin is busy with a Botany block at the moment for Spring, she has been learning all about flowers and plants and as an activity, we decided to make some little soap bars. We didn't actually make soap from scratch, but we melted down glycerine soap in a double boiler and added dried flowers, Lavender essentail oil and poured it into moulds to set. It was such a sweet project for us to do together and most importantly we had fun!

Thank you so much to everyone who sent me links for how to make soap from scratch, I am so looking forward to doing this. I am still collecting all my ingredients and I should have most of them by next week.

The project from today could also be used for Christmas gifts, you can really add so many different things, dried flowers, essential oils etc...

This is what we did:

Materials:
Glycerine soap bars
Dried rose petals
Lavender essential oil
Double boiler
Moulds
Stick for stirring

Method:

1. Cut up the glycerine into little cubes.
2. Set up a double boiler, I used a pot and immersed an old, clean tin into the water.
3. Heat up the water.

4. Place the glycerine into the tin and let it melt, stir with a stick.

5.Once the glycerine has melted, remove the pot from the water, add the essential oils and the dried rose petals and stir.

6. Pour the melted mixture into some moulds, I used ice cube trays.

7. Wait for your soap to dry and then pop your soap out of the moulds.

This really was a lovely little activity and hardly took any time at all.

Warmly
Linda

Thursday

The girls have been knitting themselves some long gloves for next winter, they have written their own patterns and had so much fun. I really do like how they have turned out, so pretty:)



Jenna has been working on her Revolutionaries and Romantics block,  this is a drawing she has done of Louis XIV.

I have been using these amazing books for her work, have you ever heard of The Story of the World?  Well I love it! So beautifully written and then wonderful activities from a workbook to support the learning material. There are four books in the set and well worth owning.

I was so pleased to see all these different colour blooms on this rose creeper...

I had to blog our Almond tree, we have never had an almond this size grow before, so Yay!

The Raspberry and Strawberry plants are all flowering...

Aaaah, this is our Pear tree and it has just finished flowering and it does look as if we will have pears this season:)

Peas!

Broad beans, soon I will add them to stews...

And a rather large head of broccoli...

We have enjoyed so many meals from our four little asparagus plants... this all make me so happy...

Giveaway: 
If you would like to enter my 700th post giveaway, please leave a comment here.



Happy day to you
xo
Linda

Lemon Circuit Battery, Grade 8

We have been busy with our 8th grade Waldorf Chemistry block. It has been such fun, we built a lemon circuit battery. It has been fascinating and I have learned so much! It's amazing to think that with a few lemons, zinc, copper, wires, springs and an LED we could have power! Amazing!! If you would like to give it a try (oh you  must you simply must, it is awesome!!, No pressure... ahem:) visit here there is a step by step tutorial and a You Tube video. Oh yes, and if you are looking for wonderful Chemistry and Physics block work, I have been using Eric Fairman's guide for grade 6 they are truly wonderful curriculum guides. 

Can you see the little LED light up (light emitting diode, see, I had no idea that this is what  LED represented, until now... I love homeschooling:)

This is the circuit Jen built completely on her own using coins instead of the copper strips...
Wishing you all an inspired day:)
xo
Linda

Sending Love Heart Swap

Update:

There has been such a lovely response to the 'Sending Love Heart Swap', 68 people have joined, I have started emailing out the the swap partner emails:) If you would like to join, it isn't too late, just go here and you can sign up:)

Crochet...

Hi everyone, I hope you are having a great day so far! It is a wonderfully warm here in South Africa today, we have finished with our schooling for this morning, Erin has just started The Middle Ages, Jen is busy with Biology and Caiden is finishing off the Norse Myths. I also went clothes shopping with Jen this morning which was great mom and daughter fun:)

Ahhh, I had to post a photo of this antique basket, I LOVE old baskets!! Whenever I see one for sale somewhere, I have to convince myself why I really don't need it. (This doesn't always work though, mind you). This particular one was given to me by my mom, she has had it since she was young, it is so beautiful and perfect for knitting projects. They fit in so neatly. I still need to make some fabric lining for it, but for now it just has a piece of calico for a liner.

I am so excited, I have been saying for months that I want to learn to crochet, I really like the look of it and it does seem to go quite fast once you get going. Well... finally today of all days, I sat down, crochet hook in hand and watched some tutorials here and off I went... I have been practicing the double crochet today and I love it! (Wow, who knew?)

So now for what is inside the basket......

This is what I have been doing for the last few hours, I am completely and utterly hooked, (excuse the pun!) I am making a cotton wash cloth! Yay. I really am enjoying the colour too. I bought this cotton here. I know this might seem like drastic over-excitement on my part for all those who crochet out there, but for me who has only ever knitted, this is Awesome! :) I will start with these little cloths and then who knows....
Have you learned any new techniques lately? If you have, I would love to hear about them, feel free to leave a link:)
Some other great news is that I have finally finished my book proposal, it has taken me quite some time, but this week I sat down and finished it. Tomorrow it goes off to the printers to be printed and bound and then I will post it off to the publishers!
I am off to crochet, (I will have to get used to saying that...)
Take care:)
Linda

Grade 6 Waldorf Geometric Drawings

Today was our 'official' start to our homeschooling year after our December holidays. Jenna is busy with Physics, she studied all about colour today using a triangular prism to experience the rainbow spectrum of colour, the experiments were wonderful! (I will blog these this week) Caiden is busy with time and measurement and Erin began her Grade 6 Geometry Block, I have included some of Erin's work.

Resource Books: Geometry

Geometry Lessons in the Waldorf School by Ernst Schuberth

Nature, Number and Geometry by Live Education

A Path of Discovery, A Steiner-Waldorf Mathematic Resource, Grades One to Eight by Eric Fairman (Wonderful!)

A Wonderful Grade 6 Waldorf Geometry Video by Eugene Schwartz:

 

I am having a yarn giveaway (above photo) at the moment, if you would like to enter, just leave a comment here.
xo
(I am looking to buy some of the Childcraft How and Why Library Books, I do have a few of them, if anyone is willing to part with theirs I would be so grateful if you would email me, lindadawkins@mweb.co.za I did manage to find some of them on Betterworld Books.)

Thanks so much:)

A Simple Advent Spiral and Centrepiece...

Yesterday, being the 4th Sunday before Christmas, we walked our Advent spiral, Richard and Jenna collected a wheelbarrow of sand and Jen created the most wonderful spiral. An old little tree stump was added to the centre for our candle and rose quartz was placed at it base. It really did look so effective on the green grass... We had plenty of rain yesterday but it did stop for at least an hour in the evening and we quickly took our lanterns and walked through our spiral and then out again, enjoying the process...

This is our simple Advent centrepiece, we have used our birthday cake board, inspired by Sarah's lovely blog they have the most amazing cake board. I think this will be the beginning of another family tradition to use this board for Advent as well as birthdays, it just adds to the flow of the year and continuity, I love it:) I haven't decorated it too much, sometimes less does seem like more, don't you think?

I have surrounded the outer edge with rosemary branches and I have placed crystals and gemstones in the centre to celebrate our mineral kindgom for this first week of Advent...



Last night we lit the first candle while we ate dinner together, the glow was wonderful...

I light a candle on the wreath all made of holly green

For rocks and bones and shining stones

One candle now is seen

We await on earth the holy birth, and upon the boughs of green.

Our hopes arise with every flame, one candle now is seen!

                                                                                                                       From Mrs Marsha's wonderful Waldorf Yahoo Group

Happy Advent to all...

Waldorf Grade 5 Botany

Erin has finished her second block of grade five Botany. In South Africa, our school years run from January to December, with holidays in between. We have both really enjoyed the Waldorf approach to Botany and learned so much. I thought I would share some of her drawings and activities that she did as well as books that we used for the block.

Erin has been drawing flowers that are indigenous to South Africa, this is our national flower, the Protea.

Another indigenous flower, the Strelitzia.

We have read all about the wonderful bees...

Studied the distinction between the lily and the rose.

Erin built a little terrarium, that is still a work in progress. She filled it with sand, moss, grasses and made a ladder and benches with toothpicks...

She is growing Mung beans, they have started to swell. It is so much easier growing beans up the side of a glass container instead of in a dish. This way you can see the progress of the growth and keep your plant from drying out too soon.

She has also picked flowers, leaves and grasses to make a Botanical picture, you can see Jenna's here and we will also make some window transparencies as soon as the flowers have dried out.

These are the books that we used to put our blocks together:

The Living World of Plants by Dr Gerbert Grohmann
Botany by Live Education
Botany by Donna Simmons
Botany by Charles Kovacs (awesome)
Tree of Life by Rochelle Strauss

Giveaway Winner:

RoseMamie said...


Happy Anniversary..and OH how lovely it all is here!! I just found you, but am now a follower and so glad!

Congratulations Rose! Your knitted treasures will be on thier way to you soon:)
xo
Linda

Monday, Wickiup Shelters...

We had a wonderful day today, Jenna and I began our day with some yoga. I haven't done yoga for quite some time, but it really did leave me feeling energised for the entire day. We have decided to include this as part of our daily rhythm. You just feel so good afterwards!

Caiden started his Native American block today and we began with a study of the People of the Longhouse. It was amazing to learn all this new information. We are using the lovely Christopherus curriculum and it is really wonderful and easy to work with:) Then to finish off todays work, I read him the story of Heron and Hummingbird a Hitchiti Tribe tale.

He built a Wickiup all by himself from pruned branches and loved the process. When Native American Indian's used to be out on a long hunt and weren't returning home that evening, they would build a temporary shelter, similar to this to keep them dry and warm for the night. Tomorrow he will learn how to light a fire without matches, his sister is a Sea Scout so she will show Cady how to do this. (He is very excited)

Later today, just as the sun was setting, we brought some blankets to put down on the floor of his Wickiup shelter and we all crawled in through the little opening and I read the story of the People of the Longhouse to Cady and Erin. Such a beautiful book with lovely illustrations.( Houses of Bark by Bonnie Shemie.) We are learning each day in such a practical way, I just love it!

Our Oak trees are already showing signs of Autumn...

Wise Olive... watching me from the dining room window...

Playful Charlie, always ready to pounce from the bushes to an unsuspecting passerby...

A beautiful sunset to bring a close to our day...

Thank you for visiting, friends:)
Warmly
Linda